In Pace Christi

Mgr. Cesare Mazzolari was born at Brescia on 9 February, 1937. His home was close to the house of the Comboni Missionaries and Cesare was still young when he first showed his desire to become one of them. He then went to Crema for middle school and to Brescia for high school. In 1953 Cesare went to Gozzano to start the novitiate but in 1954 was sent to Monroe, in the United States, to complete his formation in view of religious profession and to study English. He was then eighteen years old. He took first vows at Monroe on 9 September, 1955. He then continued with his secondary and theological education at Cincinnati and San Diego, in California. He was ordained priest at San Diego on 17 March, 1962.

Fr. Cesare stayed in the United States until 1981 in the following offices: as spiritual director of the Cincinnati seminary; in pastoral work in Los Angeles, in a parish of Mexicans; on the seminary staff in Cincinnati seminary; working among the Appalachians (mountain people) around Cincinnati and among the blacks of the city. During those years, Fr. Cesare realised how much poverty and suffering there existed even in the richest country in the world: for many of the poor, marginalised and unemployed he was a brother, a friend and a consoler.

In 1981 he was assigned to Africa and South Sudan, first as curate in the town of Nzara, in the diocese of Tombura-Yambio. His first missionary experience took place, therefore, in the land of the Zande, a fertile area already evangelised by two generations of Comboni Missionaries. Fr. Cesare worked as assistant at the diocesan catechetical centre and as spiritual director at the minor seminary of the same diocese.

In 1984, he was elected provincial superior and, at the same time, was president of the Association of Religious Superiors up to the end of 1989 and superior general of the indigenous Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

On 31 December, 1989, towards the end of his mandate as provincial, Fr. Cesare was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Rumbek. On 1 January, 1990, he resigned as provincial with Fr. Abele Mödi of the Sudanese Mundari tribe taking his place. Fr. Cesare accepted the post of Administrator, not without certain reservations – understandable from the practical point of view – taking over from Mgr. Giuseppe Pellerino who had held the post since 1984. As Apostolic Administrator, Fr. Cesare first chose Rumbek and then Yirol as his place of residence. In 1993, he was appointed Prefect Apostolic with his residence at Arua-Ediofe and then in Nairobi, due to the war in South Sudan.

On 6 January, 1999, Fr. Cesare was consecrated bishop of the diocese of Rumbek by Pope John Paul II. His diocese was as big as Lombardy and Triveneto together with just two diocesan priests and five missionaries. Political difficulties actually prevented him, for a long period, from taking possession of his see and endangered the lives of his collaborators, both priests and laity. However, at the cathedral of the Holy Family – built, destroyed and rebuilt more than once during the civil war – Bishop Cesare proclaimed the Good news, never once admit of compromise.

During his numerous trips to Italy, especially to his friends in his home town of Brescia and the surrounding area, he spared no effort in giving ‘a voice to the voiceless’, successfully moving public opinion. South Sudan was the poorest country in Africa where the good of the people took second place to 40 years of civil and tribal warfare whose only aim was to gain power and control over resources such as oil, water and gold to be found there in great quantities. He always asked everyone “not to forget, as the people of Sudan need a just peace that respects human rights.”

The Sudanese people were torn to shreds by tribalism, as well as being worn out by hunger and violence caused by a war which started as far back as 1955, a year before the Sudan became independent from Britain, and which flared up again in 1983. The victims of the war amounted to a million and a half, with five million refugees. “One of my tasks – wrote Mgr. Cesare – will be that of again spiritually and humanly motivating a people whose moral fibre has been completely destroyed.” And again: “That which disturbs me most is the despair felt by the people. For miles and miles the scene is always the same: an endless crowd of women, old people and children trying to flee the scourge of a war which seems to have no end. In the villages where there have been incursions by government troops, abandoned human bodies and burned out military vehicles are to be seen”.

In 1994, Mgr. Cesare himself was captured and held hostage for 24 hours by a group of guerrillas of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army, the armed group fighting for independence against the government of Khartoum. On that occasion he was seriously threatened simply because he wanted to make peace between two guerrilla factions fighting among themselves.

In an interview with Fr. Lorenzo Gaiga, Mgr. Cesare explained how the fundamental Islamist government of Khartoum had launched a fierce religious persecution against Christians. Those who did not accept the Koran could not find work, a home or medical help and could not go to school. Whenever Christians built a shelter to gather and pray, the government soldiers would come and burn everything. In this situation, Mgr. Cesare still kept in contact with the people and the priests who lived the lives of fugitives. It was extremely dangerous to travel from one part of the diocese to another. Travelling by light aircraft incurred the risk of being shot down while travel by road ran the danger of mines and military roadblocks. Furthermore, the fleeing people could not cultivate the land, sow or harvest. The villages were burned and the men forced to join the army. Women, the elderly and children wandered like spectres in a scene of horror.

The death of Mgr. Cesare came about unexpectedly as he was celebrating Mass: at the beginning of the consecration he felt unwell. He was taken to hospital but found to be already dead. It was 16 July, 2011. The burial took place at Rumbek on Monday, 18 July, earlier than planned, due to the extremely hot weather. Mgr. Cesare had always expressed the desire to be buried in Africa, the land for which he gave so much of himself, for which he suffered much and which he loved with an immense love.

The official ceremony took place on Thursday, 21 July. The president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, sent a message in memory of Mgr. Cesare. Part of it reads: “he was a man of deep faith, humble and sincere, who dedicated his life to the service of the Catholic Church in Sudan and who will be remembered for his heroic commitment in the struggle for liberty, justice and human dignity, a man who always worked to reconcile opposing parties”.

Only a week earlier, Mgr. Cesare took part in the celebration of the independence of South Sudan. In this context, Fr Giulio Albanese wrote: “I believe he celebrated that event in faith, in the knowledge that, one way or another, good will always triumph over evil”.

Much could be said about Mgr. Cesare’s commitment to education. We may make a brief reference to the moving comment of Maker Mayek Riak, a holder of degrees in both humanistic disciplines and in law (he lives in Canberra, Australia), who, in his message of condolence, speaks of the beginnings of the school of Mapuordit, built of reeds and bamboo, with a grass roof, of which he was one of the first pupils. Today, says this academic, Lakes State may boast of the largest number of educated youth in the whole country: degree holders, economists, lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc. He ends by saying that the death of Mgr. Cesare could well be expressed by the phrase “mission accomplished”. “His spiritual heritage will forever live in me and in those he helped to be what we are.”

Fr. Fernando Colombo writes of the secret strength of Mgr. Cesare: “We all knew of his ability to work ceaselessly, of his cordial welcome and, at the same time, of his poor health which obliged him to take a number of tablets every day as he lived with a bad heart, diabetes, changes in blood pressure, rheumatic pains and asthma. Nevertheless, he was not only the first in church in the morning, but those of us who lived close to him often saw him already at work at his desk at four in the morning. To this we must add his untiring care for the good of the diocese and for peace and development in Sudan. How could such a weak body support such great faith, hope and unceasing charitable work? The answer is to be found in his deep communion of life with Jesus Our Lord, nourished by him with many personal initiatives. Mgr. Cesare showed he had a ‘Presence’ within himself that he kept alive and burning like a flame”.

Caritas Italiana, in their message of sympathy, underlined that their collaboration with Mgr. Mazzolari was «a relationship characterised by constant respect, confidence and mutual friendship. Together, it was possible to realise many of his numerous and courageous initiatives in favour of the Sudanese. Through the tireless commitment and the deep love of Mgr. Mazzolari for his people, rooted in Christ and following the example of St. Daniel Comboni, Caritas Italiana shares the sufferings and joys of an entire people, including the greatly desired independence of South Sudan. Strong in faith in the Resurrection, we unite ourselves with you in thanking God for the gift of the life on this earth of Mgr. Cesare Mazzolari as we continue to cultivate the many seeds of peace and justice sown by him, so that – in his own words – ‘the self-determination of the people of South Sudan is full and complete, as it lives in the hope of the fundamental restoration of their identity’.»
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 249 suppl. In Memoriam, ottobre 2011, pp. 100-114.